Christened in Blood
by Kithren
Summary: They were covered in that deep, dark crimson. It stained their hands but still they moved forward. Stories for my Fem!Allen fics. Part 6: Maria would give her family the only thing she could... her love… her life… Let the world fall around her...
1. Act One

**Diclaimer: **I don't own D. Gray - Man.

**Warning: **Blood and death and vague mentions of rape. Slavery… physical child abuse and so on…

**!Very important Info!:**

**This is a side story for both "Secrets" and "The Joker, the Jack and the King"**

This story takes place before the whole Fourteenth betraying the Clan. This is a background story for Sheryl and Tyki.

Sheryl is seventeen and Tyki is eleven, so keep that in mind while you read, ok?

This story will consist of three short side stories. This is only the first part. The next part will be of the Fourteenth.

**First Part: **Sheryl and Tyki, and the red soaked church that was their beginning.

* * *

His light brown eyes narrowed as he watched the seventeen year old young man next to him write four letters on the white paper, his head tilting to the side. "Tyki." He read the two words that the young man had wrote for him. The young portuguese nobleman smiled and ruffled his short curly hair.

Tyki growled and swatted the others hands away and ran his thin fingers through his dark purple hair, trying to brush it back into place. He then sighed and fixed the young man with a bored look. "Can't we go and do something else Sheryl?" he groaned.

Sheryl frowned at him, his darker brown eyes looking at him in disapproval. "All eleven year olds should know how to read, Tyki." he said flatly. The younger boy frowned at him and stood up from the floor that they had been sitting on. "If not at least their own name." Sheryl continued.

"Yeah, but aren't you going to get in trouble if the Master finds out?" He said in a low voice. The young man sighed and also stood, brushing invisible dirt from his black dress pants. His half brother folded the white paper in half, his eyes telling him that he didn't care much for the title that he used to refer to their father.

But it was the proper title for the man. Tyki knew better then to refer to the Lord of the House as anything else. He was after all only the bastard son of the Nobleman. Born to one of the servants that he would bed from time to time.

Tyki was not the legitimate hair to the Kamelot Estate like Sheryl.

"Well when father is out that makes me the Master of the House. And I think you need to learn to read and write."

"Tyki, what are you doing up here? You are supposed to be down tending to the horses." a soft but stern voice spoke up from the door. Tyki turned and offered his mother an apologetic smile. His mother was a beautiful woman, who had long curly black hair and soft light brown eyes.

One of the Lord Kamelot's long standing favorites among the servants that were owned and called the Kamelot Estate home.

She scowled at him and then bowed to Sheryl before speaking again. "I'm so sorry young Master. I hope my son was not bothering you?" Her voice a pleading whisper and eleven year old Tyki huffed at the implication that he had been the one bothering the young nobleman.

Sheryl only smiled and chuckled lightly. "He was not bothering me at all Rose. He was just helping me with something. But if I am keeping him from work then I'll let him get back to it."

"Thank you Sir." his mother whispered and kept her eyes low as she moved forward and took the young boy by the arm and then dragged him from the room. Tyki frowned as he was dragged down a flight of stairs and out into the yard. His mother didn't speak until they were most definitely out of ear shot of any who would care to listen. "This kind of behavior will earn you a beating." his mother hissed as she let go of his arm.

Tyki again huffed. It was not his fault that Sheryl insisted on teaching him things like reading and writing. His half brother was fond of him, and had been sense before he could remember. Tyki was the only real family the young nobleman had according to him, because their father was…

Well the Master of the house was a cold and uncaring man.

The young nobleman liked to spend time with him, whenever time would allow, and this made Tyki's life easer on the Kamelot Estate. He never had to do all that much work when he was with Sheryl. He would be allowed to do things that he couldn't do when he was not with his half-brother. Like actually try riding the horses that he spent a good time caring for. Or eat some of the food that was only for the Master and Sheryl, like the sweets that were kept in the high cubbered.

Sheryl always said it made him happy to be around Tyki then around other nobles, and that made him happy. One of the reasons was because the smaller boy never lied to him, or so his half-bother said. The young portuguese man always stressing the fact that sense they were brothers they could talk to each other freely.

Tyki knew that to Sheryl, there was no social class between them. Tyki was not the bastard son of the Lord of the House, and Sheryl was not the Masters son. He was just Sheryl's little brother when they were together. Nothing else. But he was always careful to not let himself get to carried away with everything. He knew how much it hurt Sheryl to see him get himself beat by the Master when he forgot himself…

His mother didn't like it, how much time he spend with the young Master of the House, but sense Sheryl was the Masters only (legitimate) son there was little she could do.

Tyki felt a dull throb in his temple and the feeling slowly started to spread to the rest of his brow. His flinched as the pain became worse for just a moment. A pained hiss escaping his lips. His mother turned and looked at him with concerned eyes, and Tyki smiled to reassure her that he was fine.

It was happening more frequently, Tyki off handedly realized. The pain in his forehead was happening more often, and the pain was slowly getting worse. Thankfully it lessened quickly this time, and he was ushered off to finish his work in the stalls by his irritated mother.

It was late in the day when Tyki saw his half brother again. The young man smiled at him in a sly manner as he entered the kitchen. Sherly leaned against the counter and silently watched Tyki move some boxes of food into the large kitchen from the open side doors to his right.

Tyki was only half surprised when Sheryl started to help after a short while of just watching. He frowned and stuck out his tongue at him, not minding the help, but not about to let Sheryl know it.

Sheryl grinned and then laughed at him.

The young nobleman was an odd one. Helping him with his chores and work. Though it did make everything go much faster, and that would give them more time together at the end of the day. Sheryl was supposed to teach him a new card game tonight, and young Tyki was exited. He liked it when Sheryl would teach in fun things...

And that was how it had always been. Sheryl had always been there looking out for him and helping him. The young man would remind him that they where brothers, and as the oldest it was his job to do these things. Tyki remembered a long time ago, he thinks he had been six at the time, one of the other servants telling him that before he was born Sheryl had been almost as cold as the Master. That the young nobleman had never once smiled and had never been kind.

Tyki supposed that being raised by uncaring nannies and fearful servants could make life lonely. And that when he had been born Sheryl finely had someone to call family…

His mother kept telling him to not get to used to it though. That the young nobleman would get bored with him and move on at some point.

But Tyki didn't believe her. Sheryl had always been there, would always be there.

"Just wait until I become head of the house. You and your mother will not have to do anymore of this slave work." Sheryl sighed as he rummaged through the boxes and removed an apple. Tyki raised an eyebrow and smiled crookedly at the young man.

Sheryl was always saying things like that. Always promising that once he had his own house or so on, that Tyki and his mother would have a better life. They would not be servants, and that was way he was teaching Tyki to read and write. Because he would need those skills once they left the Estate.

The young Master was what his mother liked to call a dreamer. But Tyki liked to hear him talk. Liked to dream with him about what it would be like to have a title, and not be nothing more then a bastard son of a servant and a Nobleman.

Sheryl would always frown at him and scold him if he ever voiced those kind of thoughts, though. So Tyki stopped voicing then long ago, he instead settled on being what Sheryl liked to refer and treat him as, a little brother...

Sheryl tossed him an apple and Tyki caught it, blinking. It was against the rules to eat the food in the kitchen, Tyki knew this. The Lord of the house was _very_ adamant that it was not for the help. But then again, Sheryl would be upset if he didn't eat after he had given it to him.

Sheryl smiled and bit into his own apple and Tyki smiled back just slightly. The young nobleman never treated Tyki like what he was, instead he treated him like a caring older brother would treat a younger.

And it was nice. Life was good for the small portuguese boy.

It was always the best when the Master was gone. Life was always good then for everyone who lived on the Kamelot Estate.

Tyki really hated it when the Master was home, though. The man was a cruel human being, and Sheryl hated the man and would often come to Tyki raging about something _their_ father had done…

Tyki didn't like the moods that Sheryl would get into when the Master was home. His half brother would always get better though, once he was done venting to him. Tyki would listen quietly, until Sheryl had calmed down from his rage, then he would smile and joke and try to make Sheryl smile back at him.

Which was never to hard to do. He was Sheryl's little brother after all. If it was Sheryl's job as the older brother to make Tyki's life better, then it was his job as the smaller to make Sheryl's life at least bearable.

He really hated it when his mother would be called upon late in the night. It was always the worst when the Master had been gone for a while…

She wouldn't come back to their room for hours. When she would finally stumble in she would be in tears and shaking. Most of the time that would be the worse of it, but sometimes she would come back beaten and bruised and Tyki hated the Lord of the house more each time it happened.

Once Sheryl had his own house then it would all stop, because his half brother promised that it would.

Tyki hissed as the pain in his forehead flared up again, the pain becoming so great that he dropped the box of food that he was moving. He dimly heard Sheryl call out to him, dropping his own box that he was moving. He was saying something about blood before Tyki's world became dark.

When he awoke the sky was dark outside his small window. His mother was kneeling at his bed side whispering pleading prayers. Tyki had to fight to get any words pest his dry throat, his head hurt and his vision would not focus for a few terrifying moments. "M-Mothe-?"

He barely forced his body up from the bed when the door to the small room was thrown open. The one person that Tyki despised more then anything stood in the doorway scowling in anger. The man was then saying something but Tyki couldn't hear, the pain in his head burning until he was almost blind and deaf to everything around him.

Suddenly he was pulled from the bed by his upper arm, the grip painful and bruising. He was dragged down the halls of the main house and before he could force his foggy mind around the fire in his brow he was thrown forward, stumbling on his unsteady feet…

Tyki hit the dirt covered ground hard, and dimly he could hear his mother crying and begging with the Master. Cold words were hissed out and he forced his light brown eyes open. He was finally able to hear some of what was being said…

"Devil spawn-!…Evil-!…out of my house…Don't come back until-!"

Then trembling and frightened hands were tugging him to his unsteady feet. Tyki hissed and his eyes finally focused on the terrified face of his mother. His chest clenched at the sight, his young mind not understanding what was happening.

His hand lifted and pressed to his forehead, the source of his pain. His small hand came back stained with blood. His mother was whispering and pleading with him to get to his feet. So Tyki painfully forced his tired body up from the cold ground. His mother helped to steady him as they stumbled forward into the dark night.

Tyki wasn't sure how long they walked and stumbled, his small and thin mother supporting most of his weight. They soon found themselves at an old stone church. His tired and pained almond eyes looking at the old building before he turned questioning eyes to his distraught mother.

"They can help us." She whispered in her soft voice and Tyki frowned, but didn't fight as she helped him up the stone steps. The door opened before his mother could raise her hand to knock. His body started to shake, and he didn't know way.

Was that fear he could taste in the back of his throat?

The young sister that had opened the large heavy door gasped, her eyes widening. This only made the fear in his heart worse. "Stigmata…" She whispered and then she was calling back into the church.

The head priest was at the door and ushering them inside within moments. And for the second time that night Tyki was roughly pulled forward, out of his mothers soft supporting hands. He barely registered that he was being held up by two man dressed in black, before he was forced to stumble up a small flight of stairs and pushed down on his knees.

The hands didn't let go, their grips only becoming more harsh.

His head burned and his eyes had a hard time focusing with all the moving. his head hung limp and so did the rest of his body, the pain and fire in him taking any strength that he might have had. The head priest started chanting and offering prayer from behind him and Tyki's lips twisted into a frown as he felt an odd feeling in his stomach rise.

Cold unforgiving hate rose to mix with that bitter fear…

"Oh holy father please hear our prayers! Cleanse this child that has been possessed by evil!" the older man called in a deep and commanding tone, his voice full of sickening devotion and praise. Tyki weakly lifted his head, his eyes slowly focusing on the clear pool of water that he just noticed was in front of him. His lips twisted down and then he was forced forward.

His mouth opened in a startled gasp as he found his head and upper body thrust into the cold water. He hadn't had time to get air into his lung and the water flowed down his windpipe as he sucked in a desperate breath. He was held down with his whole upper body submerged under the biting water. He panicked and struggled, but he was only an eleven year old child, and his captors full grown adults.

His lungs were burning and he thought they were going to explode, when the hands holding his arms pulled him out of the water. An unkind hand took a fist full of his dark purple hair and pulled his head back harshly.

He chocked and his body spasmed with the effort to expel the water in his lungs. And still he could hear the priest calling for him to be cleansed, to be freed from _evil_. His heart twisted as he heard other voices join in with the chanting, cold seizing his very core as he heard his mothers voice among them. Panic twisted in his heart as the man called for him to be submerged in the holy water again.

"Be gone demon!" the old priest declared in a load and booming voice.

Tyki barely chocked back a fearful cry as his head was pushed back into the water. He fought harder this time, trying to escape the painful hold on his arms and hair. His panic and desperation giving him strength, but still it wasn't enough. He fought to hold his breath as his lungs began to burn again. His eyes wide and burning from the water, the water before his eyes tinting red from the wounds on his forehead…

He didn't understand what was happening. He had been in the kitchen, talking with Sheryl and then the pain…

_He was going to die…_

He felt it then, felt _it_ rising up from deep within him. It was burning, twisting and whispering something, hissing the words like a curse. He could barely hear it through his panic and fear. He could feel something there, right behind his eyes. Clawing and writhing to get out…

Just when he thought he couldn't hold his breath for another second, his consciousness slipping into the black that was waiting to swallow him whole, the hands holding him down were ripped away.

He pulled back, ripping his head from the water, gasping for air. His body fell to the side of the pool and convulsing and trembling as it tried to force water from his aching lungs. His body trying to cough and breath all at the same time. Tyki barely registered the terrified screams from within the church, his ears still ringing from almost drowning.

His throat burned as he coughed and gagged. It wasn't until he heard the twisted and broken giggle from the center of the church that he manage to look up. He froze and his heart twisted. He could taste bile rise in the back of his throat at the scene that greeted his wide eyes.

There, standing at the center of the twisted and mangled bodies of priest and nuns, was Sheryl. His half brother was laughing madly as his body twitched and shook were he stood.

Dark black light twisted around Sheryl's shaking body. That insane laughter rose and ripped from the young nobleman's throat, his whole being shaking with the force of the sound. His once dark brown eyes were now a deep burning gold. His tanned skin now a dark gray.

He should have been afraid. But he wasn't. He felt…

He felt calm and then giddy…

All he could hear was _that _voice whispering in his ears and his brothers insane laughter…

He forced his own shaking body to his feet and stumbled down the stairs. His eyes narrowed and he fell forward only after a few painful steps. He caught himself before he could completely fall to the cold stone floor of the church, fall into the pools of blood that now covered the floor.

His hands taking fist full's of Sheryl's once clean white dress shirt for support. The younger of the two dimly noting the fabric was now stained heavily in the red that was now everywhere.

As soon as they touched the laughter died and his brother stopped shaking. His crazed gold eyes blinked and finally seemed to focus on him. Tyki offered a weak reassuring smile for his brother before his world fell into darkness again.

It was ok now, Sheryl was right there. He wouldn't let anything happen to him. Because Sheryl was always there taking care of everything, promising that everything would be alright. That was his job as the oldest after all…

Tyki awoke sometime later. The sky tinted pink as dawn came upon them. Tyki groaned and blinked open his pained light brown eyes. He was draped over Sheryl's back, the young man walking down the road that would lead them far, far away from the place they both called home.

"Sher- Sheryl where are we going?" he crocked out through his dry and aching throat. His brother only giggled oddly and shifted him back up when he started to slip.

"I don't know. Anywhere but here." was all Sheryl said, and Tyki noted that his skin was still that odd gray. But it didn't bother him. The fact that his mother wasn't with them didn't bother him. That voice in his head now loader then before as it called to him.

"_Don't forgive…don't ever…" it whispered darkly._

"You could always come with me~." A happy sounding voice sang out from in front of them. Sheryl's steps forward became still, and Tyki knew that his eyes were narrowed at the man that stood before them. The man was large and odd looking, but he smiled at them with happy golden eyes. His skin was dark gray, just like Sheryl's…

The sun broke the horizon and Sheryl grinned wide. That odd giddy and calm feeling in Tyki's stomach became even stronger. He did not fear this man, something within him saying that they could trust him, and he knew Sheryl felt the same.

"I am Adam, also known as the Millennium Earl. Welcome back to the Clan of Noah, we've been waiting for you Desires and Joyd~!"

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If you liked this side story please review! Thank you! And Yes, yes, I'm working on updates for my other stories! The Next chapter of "Secrets" I am taking my time writing because it is basically nothing but Fluff and I want it to be good! Tyki is proposing to Allen in it after all, and then there is the Wedding…

Anyway please review!

**Second Part: **She was all he had left. The 14th would carve out a place for her, no matter the price...


	2. Act Two

**Diclaimer: **I don't own D. Gray - Man.

**Warning: **Death and a mantle break down and …_!Spoiler Warning!_

**!Very important Info!:**

This story is a short piece right before the Fourteenth betrays the Clan of Noah. I will be using the Fourteenths name from the newest chapter. Exactly how I saw it spelt and everything. THIS IS YOUR WARNING FOR SPOILER ON THE FOURTEENTHS NAME!

This is a side story for "The Joker, the Jack and the King" and "Secrets" (no, really! It is for Secrets to!) by the way, same as the First Part.

**Second Part Summery: **She was all he had left. The 14th would carve out a place for her, no matter the price.

* * *

_"Hush little baby don't say a word, your papa is going to buy you a mocking bird…"_

* * *

Neah Walker frowned as he watched Adam turn another poor soul into an Akuma. His gold eyes watching blankly as the Maker ordered the piece of machinery to kill the one who had made it.

"Happy Birthday~!" he sang, and the Fourteenth Noah, Neah, frowned deeper.

He could remember a time when it had been hard to watch. When the things he saw on a regular bases now, had turned his stomach. But that was all a far memory now, a memory of when it had been only Mana and him…

Life had been simple then. There had been no war between the Noah and the Innocence. He had nothing and no one other then Mana, now Neah had a Clan to belong to. A family of thirteen. And while he was thankful, he also found himself wanting to go back to that simple life.

But the Fourteenth was tied heavily to the war, he had his _human _family he had to think about. As long as he was with the Clan he could keep _them _from the war. As long as the Black Order or the Clan of Noah never found them…

He had become numb to it, seeing the Earl turn humans into Akuma, to seeing death. That was how his life was now. He had been with the Clan for two long years. All of the Clan had almost awoke again, awoke from being killed burring the Clan of Noah's last encounter with the Heart of Innocence.

The Fourth and Third were the last two to awaken, and even then the Third had still not fully awoke yet. The new Fourth and Third had only been with the Clan for a little over four months. The young boy, the new host for the memories of Pleasure, was as young as Road appeared to be. He was only eleven years old, still only a child.

Neah sighed softly to himself. Children had no business being involved in war…

His gold eyes narrowed and he turned to fallow after the Earl once he was done with the new Akuma. "Is something bothering you, Neah?" Adam asked, and the Fourteenth quickly forced a smile on his dark gray lips.

"No, I just have something's on my mind is all. Do you mind if I take a short leave of absence?" He asked, keeping his tone light. Hoping the First would not asked any questions. Neah had a bad feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. It had been there for the last few hours, and he couldn't seem to shake it. His mind kept drifting to his _human _family.

The Earl nodded his head and smiled wider at him. The Fourteenth had to try not to flinch. The cold feeling of betraying his clan freezing his blood in his veins, it only became worse at the trusting look on the oldest Noah's face. But that didn't stop him from turning and walking away. It didn't stop him from humming a set of simple musical notes and opening an Ark gate to where he wanted to go.

The Fourteenth Noah, The Musician of the Ark, stepped out of the glowing white portal a few moments later. His black boots crushing the grass under his feet as he took the first few steps onto the dark green grass on the other side.

His lips were still pulled down into a frown, until a soft and beautifully sweet sound reached his sensitive ears. Neah's lips slowly pulled up into a soft smile, his feet taking him to where the sound was coming from. Before long his eyes landed on an old wooden house. It was a very small home, and a few hours from the closest town. It was out of the way, and no one would come to it unless they knew the old building was there.

Only three souls knew about this little house, nestled deep in the woods.

He took the door handle in his hand and pushed it open. The first thing his gold eyes fell on was the small white bassinet in the corner of the first room, the source of the sound.

His smile widened as he moved forward. His eyes flashing in simple happiness as he leaned over and peered into the old hand woven basket. Upset silver eyes filled with large sad tears looked at him, the month old infant still wailing with a healthy set of lungs.

"Hello there my little one~." He cooed softly, his voice light and musical. Neah reached forward and gentle brushed back some of the infants soft fine brown hair with one hand. "Hungry?" He asked, but he already knew the answer to his question.

A loader wail fallowed and the Fourteenth chuckled and stood.

His gold eyes glancing around the two room cabin. He couldn't hear any motion within the small house, and he vaguely found this odd. Maria wouldn't have just left the small infant alone.

And neither would Mana…

The crying from the bassinet became heart breaking, and he sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he would have get her feed, and very soon. Neah ran a hand through his black hair and moved to the fridge in the other corner of the small home. The part that could be called the kitchen.

His dark gray lips twisting into a frown when he opened the door. He was for some reason slightly surprised to see the fridge was practically empty. Though, really that shouldn't surprise him. Maria was a Parasitic Accommodator after all. She could eat like a bottomless pit…

He cringed with the realization that if she ever heard him say such a thing, she would have his head. Though, he couldn't keep the small smile from his lips at the thought of her short temper.

Chuckling a little to himself he reached for one of the few full bottles and closed the fridge. He was back at the bassinet within moments and really hoping she wouldn't mind a cold bottle just this once. It was at this moment that the Fourteenth quickly came to another realization.

He had never once fed the _always_ starving infant. His lips twisted down and his heart ached. How could he just now be realizing this?

How could he just now be realizing that he had never once fed his own daughter?

The Fourteenth shook his head and offered an apologetic smile to his small baby girl that was still wailing her heart out. Carefully, making sure to support her head, he lifted his hungry daughter from the cradle. Neah turned and moved slowly over to the rocking chair that sat next to the bassinet, and carefully lowered himself. His small daughter nestled in the crock of his arm and the bottle held in his other hand.

"Mana always said I was an idiot." He chuckled sadly as he brought the cold bottle to the infants mouth. She quickly latched on and silence fell over the old wooden cabin quickly. The Fourteenth Noah chuckled again as his little girl quickly made short work of the bottle, apparently so hungry that she didn't care if it was cold...

The silence was short lived however, as the small thing in his arms started to cry again once she finished off the bottle, her stomach still not full. Neah out right laughed at this. The sound light and musical, filled with joy at having this simple moment with his daughter.

"Just like your mother I see." he whispered softly as he smiled a sad smile. "Yes, just like your mother…"

That nagging feeling returned and he again found it odd that Maria or Mana were still missing. That they had left the little one alone even for a moment.

He stood and quickly retrieved two more of the bottles, shaking the bad feeling from his head. His daughter needed him right now, he could go look for the rest of his family when her tummy was satisfied. A small frown forming on his lips as when he took the two bottles it only left three in the fridge. He really hoped that they would return soon. He didn't know what he was going to do if he ran out of food for his daughter…

Never the less, it was fascinating to watch his small tiny thing of a daughter, who was only barely a month old, finish of the second bottle in a few hungry sucks. By the time she was almost done with the third, her shining silver eyes started to drupe.

Neah smiled and watched, his gold eyes filled with his contentment. A Thought coming to him as he looked upon his child. He started by humming, the sound gentle and soft, then just as softly he sang out the words to his newest melody. It was just a little lullaby that he had wrote for her, a simple little song. Words to go with a certain score of notes…

"_Then the girl went to sleep, and one or two ambers alive in the ashes flared up, in the shape of your beloved face…"_

Neah continued to sing softly, though his mind started to wonder again.

He was part of the Clan of Noah. His older brother was human. He had fallen in love with an Exorcist, his enemy. Then there was his daughter. His child was tied more to the Exorcists then the Noah, and this saddened him.

"_Thousands of dreams spread over the land. Stars like silver eyes twinkling in the night…"_

The Fourteenth narrowed his golden eyes as he glanced at his child's left arm. His lips pulling down just slightly, before he pulled the blankets up and covered the arm from view. As long as he had them, his human family, he would be happy. As long as he could keep then hidden from the world outside of this small little house…

As long as he could keep _this_ family safely out of reach of the war…

"_Your shining ones fell to the Earth. Even though the eons turn many prayers to dust, I will keep praying…"_

"So this is where you have been sneaking off to." A young curious voice called out from the doorway. The Fourteenth's eyes snapped to the door, his singing stopping. His precious child held closer to his chest as Neah's blood ran cold. His eyes meet the gold eyes of the Ninth Child.

Road cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly at the sight that greeted her eyes. Neah was on his feet within a moment, and his quick movement woke the now sleeping baby in his arms. She started to fuss and it was now that Road seemed to actually notice what he was holding.

She was suddenly standing in front of him, an ecstatic look twisting her young face. The Noah of Dreams squealing and giggling in pure happiness over the infant the Fourteenth held in his arms. Her excitement died however, once she pulled the blankets aside to get a better look at the baby in the frozen Noah's arms. Her gold eyes narrowed and her lips twisted into a deep concerned frown.

"Neah… That's Inno-"

She didn't get a chance to finish as he pulled away. His own gold eyes filling with panic and fear. His instincts screaming that his child was in danger. His hand rose out and his forefinger, middle finger and thumb came together. The second oldest Noah had just enough time to gasp, before Neah snapped his fingers and an explosion took out the first half of the small wooden building.

The Fourteenth knew that the attack wouldn't kill Road, it would only slow the her…

But that was all he needed. His fight or flight instincts were running high, his daughter the only thing on his mind as he bolted through the now open half of the house.

He could here Road call out to him, her voice confused, but still he didn't pause. Still he ran. The safety of his child overriding any reason he might have had in that moment. All that he could think was that he needed to escape, needed to flee for his daughters sake.

That was when he came upon the body of his Maria a few miles away from the cabin.

His wide gold eyes taking in the scene of battle, and dimly he noted that she put up a decent fight. His mind telling him that she must have come this way to lower her opponents away from the small cabin…

Away from their daughter…

He could smell the stench of magic in the air as he sucked in a breath of air into his lungs. Mana was the only one besides himself that knew of the small sanctuary and also knew magic, but his older brother would never have done such a thing. The Fourteenth knew this without any doubt...

Tears, pain filled tears welled up in his gold eyes. His heart filling with grief. His pained gold eyes scanned the road for the body of his older brother. Because he knew that if Mana had been with Maria and his daughter he would have tried to defend them.

Mana was stubborn, he would have done anything to protect Maira and his niece. Even if that meant fighting a battle that he knew he could never win. Mana was a powerful magician. Maria was a powerful Exorcist…

His precious little one was held tighter to his chest, her soft sad cries the only sound he could hear. Neah realized that he had lost everything, the weight of it crushing. The Fourteenth Noah swallowed thickly, his throat contracting painfully, but his tears wouldn't fall.

He froze when he heard the cocking of a gun, when he felt the barrel press to the back of his skull. His heart beating painfully in his chest…

"Its your fault Noah." A harsh voice hissed from behind him. "They had to kill her because of you. Because of you she turned traitor, because she cared for a Noah." the man behind him spat out bitterly.

Neah tried to swallow back his pained chuckle, but it made it passed his lips anyway besides his best effort to stop it. His dark gray lips twitched up into a sad and broken smile as he slowly turned to face the man that had him at gunpoint.

An Exorcist…

His sorrow filled gold eyes met cold hateful green. The man that stood before the Fourteenth had hair red like blazing flames, and Neah found it off handedly amusing that his hair looked like fire and yet his eyes could be so cold.

Those cold green eyes hating the Noah before him, but Neah could also see the hate for those that had killed Maria…

_So this must be the other man that had been after her heart._

His golden eyes staring into the green of the Exorcist that could kill him with his Innocence at any moment. The fact that this was all his little human family was going to amount to crossed the Fourteenths mind as he listened to his daughter cry in his arms.

His daughter...

"There is nowhere… is there?" He whispered in a low and broken voice. His sorrow crushing. But he didn't look away and his tears still didn't fall. The man with red hair like fire, frowned at him. A eyebrow raising in question at the words the Fourteenth had spoken.

Neah smiled, his lips stretching wide and twisting up at the corners. Gold eyes dull and hopeless now. "There is nowhere for her to belong to in this world is there? No where safe for her to be…"

The Exorcist growled at him, his eyes flashing and cutting. The Exorcists eyes glanced for a second at the wailing infant in his arms. "A child of an Exorcist and Noah?" the man spat out, but the Fourteenth didn't miss the small infliction of sorrow for the life in Neah's arms.

For Maria's child…

"No, not in this-"

The Fourteenth felt something breaking. Then he felt nothing.

"Then I'll make one." he breathed out, cutting the Exorcist off. His gold eyes filling with hate and madness. The Fourteenth Noah, the Musician looked upon his child with half lidded golden eyes. His lips stretching wider then what should have been normally possible as her wails became more sorrowful.

Such beautifully heart breaking music…

For her he would rend this world, that was so filled with hate and death, to nothing. Because this world did not have a place for her, this poor little soul that was a part of everything, but would only ever be seen as nothing to everyone. Slowly he shifted the infant up in his arms, bringing her closer. Gentle he took the hand that had doomed her from the start. Her left hand would tie her to the side of the Exorcists, her genes would tie her to the Clan of Noah.

In her blood was the license to control Noah's Ark. She would forever be his beautiful baby girl, his musician. He would dance to her tune, and the war would fallow him.

He kissed her red and deformed left hand, the Innocence imbedded on the back flashing green for just a moment as Neah started to hum that soft melody. He started to rock his child in his arms, completely ignoring the Exorcist that was watching him with narrowed and unreadable eyes.

"I will become the Millennium Earl," He promised to her, the only thing he had left. Because he knew the humans, the Black Order, would kill them. They would never offer a place or a sanctuary for them, for her…

The Clan of Noah would only ever see the Innocence in his child's left hand. See her as their enemy. The Hate for the Innocence far to great in the Noah for them to every welcome her as part of the family…

The Exorcist slowly lowered his weapon, his green eyes watching the young man before him fall into madness, but Neah didn't care anymore.

"I will become the Earl, and then you will have a place my precious little one.~" He cooed, his voice twisting higher with his pain, with his rage and insanity for the path that fate had tried to give him by giving his child Innocence.

He would make his own path now, his own road to walk. It would be paved in the blood of the Clan, then the blood of the Order. His daughter was all he had left and the Fourteenth Child of Noah would carve out a place for her no matter what he had to lose to do it.

"So hush and don't cry, your papa is going to sing for you one last time.~" He sang out in a voice filled with his broken mirth. A insane giggle twisted in the back of Neah's throat then, and he didn't care enough to hold it back. His laugh sounding broken and filled with soul cutting anguish even to his own ears.

His face suddenly felt warm. The clear burning liquid finally fell from his dead golden eyes, his dark lips still twisted up into a smile. Neah Allen Walker, Fourteenth in the Clan of Noah and Musician of the Ark wept in aching silence for everything he had lost and everything he would lose.

Little Ellen Maria Walker finally fell into silence as her father started to sing for her…

_Then the girl went to sleep,_

_And one or two ambers alive in_

_The ashes flared up in the shape_

_Of your beloved face._

_Thousands of dreams spread over the land. _

_Stars like silver eyes twinkling in the night…_

_Your shining ones fell to the Earth._

_Even though the eons turn many prayers to dust,_

_I will keep praying._

_Please love this child, and kiss the hand you're holding._

* * *

The words to "**Tsunaida Te ni kiss wo" **That I used are found in the manga volume 14. I only changed one word…

Anyway, please review! I like reviews! :)

****

The Third Part:

Mana Walker would forever walk forward, one step at a time... 


	3. Act Three

**Diclaimer: **I don't own D. Gray - Man.

**Warning: **Physical child abuse and very vague mention of attempted sexual child abuse…and so on…

**!Very important Info!:**

This is a side story for both "Secrets" and "The Joker, the Jack and the King"

This is set when Mana meets Fem!Allen/Ellen after Neah betrayed the Earl. She is seven in this part…

**Third Part: **Mana Walker would forever walk forward, one step at a time...

* * *

Mana Walker was nothing but a human. A plain human that had nothing all that special about him. His only real gift was entertaining others, so it was only natural that he took up the profession of a traveling performer. He had traveled to many places, choosing to never stay in one place to long.

If he stayed in one place for to long then he would see that ugliness. People hurting other people for no other reason then to hurt. Mana always liked to see the good in things, he had always been able to see things in black and white.

But now, after he had lost everything dear to him, Mana had trouble seeing anything other then the ugliness, anything other then the black. He could remember preaching to Neah about how there was still good in the world. That humans, that humanity, could still be saved…

Mana Walker may have been a human, but he had been seen as family to the Clan of Noah. He had been allowed to stay on the Ark with Neah when the Earl had come for him. He had been part of _that _family for a short time…

If you could call two years a short time.

He had a hard time excepting it all at first, but he was also always one to adept to anything life throw at him. It had taken some getting used to, granted, but Mana had excepted his brother for who he was. For What the Clan of Noah planed to do, for the role Neah would play in it. Neah may be the Fourteenth Noah, the Chosen Child, but he would always be Mana's little brother first, but again he was only human.

So Mana had taken to studying magic to make himself useful. He hated being a burden to anyone, let alone his little brother. He had excelled at it apparently, because even the Earl had been imprested. But none of that metered anymore.

Neah was dead, Miria was dead, his sweet little niece was...

Mana's ties to the Clan of Noah gone with his brothers death. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, he had simply left Maria and little Ellen to fetch more food, when he returned he had found the small wooden cabin partly destroyed and the bloody body of his brother.

An Exorcist that he had never seen before sitting on the ground next to his brothers body. Mana had understandably flown into a rage and had attacked the red haired man. But Mana was only human and the Exorcist had beaten him, and then had explained that Maria was dead and Neah had gone and tried to kill the Earl. That his little brother had returned to the cabin only to die a few hours later from his wounds.

Mana had wept brokenly over the cold body of his brother...

He wept for hours because he was simply _human_ and there was nothing else that he could do…

The Exorcist had left, one of Mana's spell books in hand. His green eyes full of regret but oddly determined. The clown had stayed and buried his brother. He had eventually (once he could find the strength to leave his brothers side) looked for the bodies of Maria and his small little niece, but was an able to find them…

He walked away from that little wooden cabin by nightfall. He walked forward with no thought of to where he was going. He would walk until he died, Mana decided. It was as simple as that.

Mana walked and lived…

A small peace of hope buried deep in his heart at the fact that the Exorcist had said nothing about his niece being dead. Without a body Mana could hope…

He made a living as a clown. Earning just enough to continue moving, hoping that death would come for him quickly, trying to not see all the black around him as he went. He continued like this for seven long years…

Mana had just joined a traveling circuses. Him and his companion, Allen the mutt, joining the troop as a temporary Clown. He had been with the troop for a few days when his little dog came up beaten and dead. The traveling Clown had felt a small twist in his heart, but he couldn't find it within himself to cry.

He had just finished burring him, his mind lost in a memory of when he had buried his little bother…

"Is he really dead?" a young voice asked, though the tone was oddly empty and cold for sounding so young. Mana, still dressed in his Clown attire had turned to the serous of the voice. His dark gray eyes met a pair of eyes filled with dull silver.

Those hauntingly familiar eyes set in a equally familiar face, and for a moment Mana had forgotten that the small child had asked him a question. His heart clenching in pain and hope. His eyes stung but the tears wouldn't fall. The traveling Clown shook his head and force his heart to not beat so fast…

"Yes, he's dead" Mana forced out. His eyes still not leaving the small frame of the child standing next to him. Silver eyes blinked slowly and then turned to look at the grave. Mana frowned at the dead look within the small girls eyes.

The small child blamed the dogs death on one of the other clowns, but Mana was barely hearing what the little girl was saying. His heart aching for what he had lost, but the years telling him to not get his hopes up. He had seen plenty of little _Ellen's _after all. None of them were ever his little niece, and his heart would break just a little more each time he found himself hoping…

Mana was an observant man when he chose to be, so he watched with his calculating gray eyes. He took note of the color of her eyes first, they were truly silver, no blue or any other color mixed within them. He took note of the color of her hair, which was a light brown, badly in need of a good brushing.

Mana noted the little thing was obviously malnourished, her small frame thin and almost nothing but bones. Her skin an almost sickly pale and Mana was himself sickened to see the bruises that covered her small thin body. Mana had the feeling that he knew who had beat the girl, and voiced his question. The clown that the child blamed his little dogs death on...

"Did Kojmo beat you?" He asked. This earned the clown a angry glare, those silver eyes flashing sharply.

"Shut up!" She hissed at him, her thin lips pulled down in a furious frown. Mana simply offered the poor little thing a sad smile.

He was such a sad foolish old man. Letting himself think, yet again, that there was still something in this world…

Mana sighed and moved to stand, the little girl kept her small hands in the pockets of her dirty brown dress. She slowly crouched down after watching Mana stand. Her silver eyes looking so empty that Mana could feel the pain in his heart increasing at the sight.

No child should have that look in their eyes…

"One of these days I'll leave this place." she whispered quietly, her voice still filled with that horrid emptiness. Mana frowned, but then forced a smile on his lips. He bent back down and pulled a peace of candy from his pocket. Mana had learned to always keep some on hand long ago, children loved it if you gave them candy after all...

He was about to open his mouth to offer the poor little thing a peace when an angry voice called out, cutting him off. "There you are you little rat! Its dinner time. Do your job or your out on your worthless little ass!" The head cook bit out as he came to stand a few steps away from the clown and the child.

Mana frowned again, and he so badly wanted to tell the man to not speak to the little girl that way, but again the words died on his tongue when the small girl next to him slowly stood.

Mana frowned deeper at the blank look on the child's face and also stood. He watched her hurry passed the furious cook when the man smacked her on the back of the head. The small child didn't even cry out as she stumbled and then fell to the ground, her hands leaving her pockets to break her fall.

"Hey!" Mana called out, his anger rising at seeing how the girl was being treated, and by the look at how she merely stood and brushed the dirt from her clothes, told him that this was a normal thing.

To say Mana was angry was an understatement. In his opinion the worst thing one could do was hurt a child.

Yet another black stain that he didn't want to see…

The cook fixed him with a look. "Mind your place! You're a temp, and the Troop Leader can still kick you out and not pay you." The man hissed and turned to stalk passed the little brown haired girl.

Those silver eyes were looking at him oddly and Mana offered her a soft smile after a heavy sigh. The girl blinked and took a step back, and Mana could see that she was not used to being shone kindness. That hurt the worst, seeing that look on _that_ face. He was over joyed however when her small lips twitched up just slightly, before she turned and ran after the cook.

But not before Mana caught sight of her left hand.

His heart was in his throat and for the first time sense his brothers death, Mana wished for all the world that he could still cry.

Only so he could weep in joy.

He didn't know what to do, a few hours later found the traveling clown pacing his wagon. Leaving the little girl here was no longer an option, now that he knew for sure that she his sweet little niece. But he was also sure she wouldn't just come with him, with a man that she didn't know just because he claimed to be her uncle.

Mana shook his head and decided that he couldn't keep himself from going to see her any longer, his heart wouldn't let him wait. He had thought he had lost everything, but now, after seven long years, he had found a piece of the family he thought lost to him…

The old clown exited his wagon and made his way to the kitchen. Though he was promptly told that the little 'rat' had not come back from bringing Kojmo his dinner. Mana frowned and quickly made his way to the other clowns wagon.

What happened in the few moments that fallowed Mana opening the door to that wagon would forever be blocked from his mind. He would ever allow himself to think about what would have happened to his little niece if he hadn't shown up when he had. All that Mana Walker knew and cared about was the other man was nothing but a bloody mess on the floor. That nothing was left of that _blackness_.

Mana stood over what was left of the other clown and fought down the need to chuckle darkly. His gray eyes narrowed and he dimly noted that the madness that all the Noah seemed to passes must be genetic…

Though that thought was in itself funny, as the Noah _were_ genetic memories…

The old traveling performer turned and took the shaking girl by the wrist and pulled her from the wagon. He continued walking and didn't look back.

Mana Walker was nothing special.

He was nothing but a human that had a little bit of magic talent. His _real_ talent was entertaining others. He was nothing more then a traveling Clown, who's brother happened to be the Fourteenth in the Clan of Noah.

They both carried the Noah gene and any children that they had would also have the gene. Mana was just a normal human, but he was not stupid. This little seven year old girl had the genes of Noah within her blood. His sweet little niece had Innocence within her left hand.

She was her parents daughter, plain and simple.

Mana was not a Noah, and he would never awaken as one. His gray eyes flickered to the thin little thing that he was pulling behind him. Ellen's sliver eyes still unfocused and unseeing and Mana was partly releaved at this. She wouldn't remember any of it. A child shouldn't have to live and almost experience such dark and black things…

Mana turned his eyes back to the road before him, his lips pulled into a straight determined line. A carriage past them on the old dirt road, but Mana didn't pay it any mind. He knew that the Earl would be looking for this child, for Neah's child. He knew that the Black Order would want another accommodator, another _soldier of god, a_nother weapon to use in thier war. It was a miracle that they hadn't found her already…

But he wouldn't let them take her.

His lips twitched at the corners, threatening to pull into a maddening smile. He wouldn't let this twisted and horrid war take the only thing he had left. He would keep Ellen from the war even if the price was his life.

Mana was a human, his brother a Noah. His sister-in-law an Exorcist.

But that didn't mater.

Mana Walker saw everything in black and white, his niece the only shade of gray. "Keep walking, don't ever stop…" he whispered under his breath. Fully understanding what would happen if he stopped now…

He was a performer and this would be his best performance ever. Mana Walker was a Black Clown, he would put on a show so grand that neither side of the war would see the small child fallowing just two steps behind him for what she truly was…

"Keep walking, until the day you die."

He would keep walking, one painful step at a time. He would keep smiling and pretend that he couldn't see the red that stained his path. Mana Walker was a simple human, a human that had simply taken in a stray little_ 'boy' _that he had found and named _'Allen' _one cold Christmas day…

"Don't worry Neah, _Allen _will be a great clown_…"_

A well dressed young man, looking to be no more then eighteen years old, stood just a little ways away from the main tent of the circus. His almond colored eyes half lidded as he stared at the patch of dirt before him. One of his white gloved hands raising and coming to rest over his heart.

"Tyki-pon~!" a happy sounding voice called out to him, and the young man turned to the one who had called his name. His brown eyes narrowing and lips twisting into a frown. The older man that approached him was dressed in a dark brown suit, with a black over coat hanging over his shoulders. His light brown eyes watching the young man as he walked up to him. "What are you doing way out here?"

Tyki shrugged his shoulders and turned his eyes back on the small mound of dirt. "I felt like I should here." He answered in a board tone, seeing no reason to lie to the Maker. He didn't know way he had felt the need to come out this way, there was nothing to see.

Just a shallow hole and a pile of dirt, with a small ball covered with dim yellow stars…

The middle aged man standing next to him smiled a little wider and nodded his head. He turned and started to make his way back to the tents. "I got what I came for, so we can leave at anytime.~"

Tyki narrowed his eyes and turned to fallow after the oldest of the Clan, his lips still fixed in a frown. What was that urge that had been pulsing deep in his heart? He had the feeling that this was where he needed to be, but he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever reason that he needed to be at this spot he had already missed...

The Third Child shook his head and focused on the older mans back. "Hey Earl, are you going to tell me why we came out here in the first place?" Tyki asked as they returned to their waiting carriage.

The Millennium Earl, in his human form, chuckled and sang out. "To move forward, Tyki-pon.~" Adam answered. "Chasing after something that we shouldn't have lost in the first place."

* * *

Allen kept her lips turned up in a friendly smile, but in all her fifteen years she had never felt such a pull. He sat on the floor between two middle aged men, the pile of her friends clothes next to him. She forced down the urge to shudder when his eyes finally turned from the cards in his hands to look at her through his thick pair of glasses…

She forced herself to not show how much his burning gaze affected her, Allen doing her best to shake the feeling that he could truly see her from her mind.

It felt like he could see through her deception, her mask.

It wasn't all that hard to push those thoughts away however, once she got the cards in her hands….

* * *

Yeah! Finished! Please review!


	4. Act Four

I wasn't going to do anymore of these but this idea got stuck in my head, so I had to write it... Thank you to everyone who has reviewed these little side stories!

**Diclaimer: **I don't own D. Gray - Man.

**Warning: **Implied mental and physical child abuse, because we all know that growing up with Cross had to be hell… Cross being OOC...

**!Very important Info!:**

This is a side story for both "Secrets" and "The Joker, the Jack and the King"

This is set and goes through the three years that Allen is training with Cross. So Allen goes from age twelve to age fifteen in this story.

**Fourth Part: **General Marian Cross was a womanizer, a cheat, and a drunk. She was his proof that karma did in fact exist and was out to kick him in the ass…

* * *

General Marian Cross was a womanizer, a cheat, and a drunk. He was a down right bastard when it came to using woman and breaking their hearts. It was these qualities that lost him the one woman that he had ever truly cared for.

Maria had been one of a kind, but he had broken her heart. He had been the reason that she had found herself in the arms of the enemy. Though Cross had the feeling that she did truly love the man…

General Cross Marian hated everything, though hate was to strong of a word really. No, Cross just didn't _care_. The only things he deemed worth his time anymore were women and wine. And not in that order.

He was an Exorcist, a General thanks to a little magic book that he had taken from the Fourteenths brother. His green eyes glanced at the body of the woman that he had once claimed to care about. He had used that old book of magic to animate Maria's body…

He tried to justify his reasoning's for everything he had done up to this point, but that still didn't make him anything better then a bastard.

He had been following the Fourteenths brother because he had promised to watch over the man, though Cross didn't see way he was still doing it, or why he had agreed to in the first place.

He didn't owe _him_ anything…

But Maria…

Cross had only left them alone for two days, and the Fourteenths brother came up dead. Cross had felt like a fool to let down his guard. He had made his way to the grave yard only to find that he was to late.

Cross entered the old graveyard, Maria only a few passes behind him. He was slightly out of breath from running…

The scene that greeted his dark green eyes told him that he was indeed to late. That the Millennium Earl had indeed come and the little brat had made the deal. He had failed yet again…

He approached the small huddled form that was sobbing before the newest grave stone. Sorrowful and broken silver eyes turned to look at him after a few long moments of the General just standing there. Cross frowned when it felt like there was a cold knife being twisting within his heart at that look within those eyes.

Those silver eyes stared at him and Cross could only stand there frozen. There was no doubt in his mind that this little girl before him was _his _offspring…

Even with her once brown hair turning white.

The thought that he should kill this child before she had the chance to grow crossed his mind then. He was an Exorcist, this thing before him was the _offspring _of his enemy, one day she would awaken and also become a Noah, Innocence or not…

That Noah had to have done something to the Innocence imbedded within this small things left hand, there was no other way that he could think of that would explain why an Innocence would be working with one that had the genes of Noah.

Two opposing forces housed within one being.

He couldn't let this thing live, or the tainted Innocence to continue to function with its Accommodator…

He was an Exorcist, it was his duty. It was his duty as a _human_…

His hand moved to his belt, his fingers wrapping around Judgments handle. His green eyes narrowed and he wanted to, he wanted to so badly. He couldn't waste this opportunity, the Earl hadn't realized what she was when he had been here, but how long would that last?

Mana had done a good job hiding her with his magic and with disguising her as a boy, but it had been mainly luck that the Order or the Earl hadn't found her yet. And how long would that luck last, now that Mana Walker was dead?

Those haunting silver eyes continued to stare at him. The General realized that she had _his_ eyes then. Cross dimly noted that the color must be genetic to the Walker bloodline, because he had met _three_ Walkers that had those cutting and haunting gray eyes…

This thin little thing that was still staring at him looked so much like _him_, but Cross could see _her_ in that face also…

The hand that had been ready to pull Judgment from its holster fell back down to his side. He found himself kneeling before the small and broken little girl that was the child of the Fourteenth Noah.

Cross remembered listening to that _child_ break, because the Fourteenth had been nothing _but _a child then. He had listened to him hush his own child, this little thing before him now, back to sleep all those years ago. Cross wanted to be bitter, he wanted to hate…

But how could you hate a man, one much to young to already have a family of his own, a man that had loved his family so deeply that he would destroy anything that threatened them?

But still that was not what made him decide to spare this little girls life, decide to offer to teach her to be an Exorcist. To teach her to be an Exorcist like her mother.

He tried to tell himself it was because he at least owed Maria this…

Cross figured that this was karma's way of making him pay for every woman that he had ever wronged. This was his punishment, this was his retribution for all the sins that he had ever committed. Cross didn't care about anything, he was pretty sure that he had never cared.

But the Great General Cross Marian felt pity for the little thing sitting in the mud and dirt before him. This child of the Noah that should have never existed and the Exorcist that chose love over her humanity.

Cross wasn't a fool, he knew how dangerous this child was. This little rag of a girl had the power to destroy mankind if she only knew how. That in itself was frightening. To think about what could have happened if someone else found her before Mana had.

Cross had seen who had shown up at that circus just after Mana had taken her from that hell hole. He had seen them fallow after the two for these five long years. The Earl and the Noah had always been two steps behind…

Only ever seeing Mana, but never who the child that was with him for what _'he' _truly was.

Mana had been to kind with Allen, to soft. The Fourteenth's brother should have known that he couldn't keep her from the war, she was to much a part of it.

If she was going to survive this war and this world then she needed to learn to stand on her own. It was not lost on him that the Fourteenth's child would be nothing but a puppet to whatever puppeteer found her first…

And it would seem that fate had decided that Cross Marian would be that puppeteer.

He had known that this day would come, the day he would have to look at her, the child of the one woman that he had ever thought he loved. Those silver eyes looked at him with such lose, pain, and absolute yearning that he wanted to be sick.

But not because he found that look disgusting. No, he was sick to think of what she could be made to do if she thought it would make someone love her. A woman's devotion could be even more frightening then facing the Earl and ten thousand Akuma without a weapon…

Cross took her in as his apprentice. The Exorcist General made sure that the first thing he crushed was her reliance on others. Cross was not a kind man, but he was also not truly cruel either. He didn't care for anything, but then he found himself raising the child of the one woman that he believe he loved…

Two years passed in a blink of an eye. Allen grew and Cross watched. He watched her grow and watched her learn. Every day that passed Cross could see more and more of Maria in her.

He was a sick bastard. Every time those silver eyes would look at Maria, Cross could feel that cold knife twist a little deeper. He keep his lips closed anytime Allen would ask him about her though, he would simply tell his _apprentice_ to not ask such stupid questions…

The Truth about Maria would be something that he would take to the grave. Because no matter how much Cross thought that he didn't care about anything anymore, he found himself caring about Maria's daughter…

Anytime that he throw her out to deal with something, he had been within sight of her. She was a smart girl though and the General never had to step in to help her. She was her parents daughter after all.

Even if she had yet gained control of her Innocence she was still strong willed, though the fact that she couldn't summon her weapon was starting to concern him. Cross knew that the Innocence was functional, thanks to the _turning Mana into an Akuma _thing…

The General stepped up his training, hoping that he could force the modified Innocence to activate. He pushed her hard, sometimes forgetting that she was a girl…

But she was a young girl. Even though Cross let her think that he though she was a boy most of the time. Though Cross was soon to find out that there was a lot to rising a young girl that he didn't really think about…

It happened on their first visit to India.

He was standing on one of the balconies of the Maharajah's palace as his apprentice limped up to a young fifteen year old boy out in the yard, he believed that the boy was Ms. Urmina's lady-in-waiting's little brother. Cross watched with a blank expression on his handsome face as his idiot apprentice tried to talk to him, blushing and stumbling all over her words.

It took him a little longer then it should have for him to figure out what was going on. Even then he was sure that he was simply having some kind of nightmare. His mind trying to figure out when the brat had gotten old enough to be interested in boys.

Cross wasn't sure how he was going to deal with this new…

Development.

Thank god the brown head boy was to engrossed in looking at a pale ankle to notice the pink in those pale cheeks, or the stomach turning look in those bright silver eyes. Cross had seen that look directed at him enough times to notice it now.

His first thought was that if he were to put Judgment to his head and pull the trigger, would it kill him? Or would his Innocence decide that he hadn't suffered enough?

_India_, Cross hated India…

Cross knew how to deal with woman. He prided himself on it even. But the second that he noticed Allen blushing and falling all over herself to talk to that brown haired boy that wanted to become a doctor…

He remembered his second thought was that he would have to kill the boy. Cross couldn't help but think that the boy was lucky that her father and uncle were dead. He didn't want to know what horrible things a Noah could come up with to scare away unwanted suitors…

The thought alone gave the General nightmares…

But fate offered him a fix his little problem before long. He had dragged his apprentice from the palace to get her away from that annoying boy when they were attacked by Akuma. It was then that his keen green eyes had caught sight of the boys older sister, and Cross had decided on the best course of action…

He was a bastard, but he was also an opportunist.

Maria would never forgive him, if Allen ever knew half the things he never told her, she would never forgive him. Not that he ever deserved forgiveness in the first place. But Cross felt that he was justified in the things that he had done, the little brat had learned to summon her Innocence thanks to him...

It had taken him three years of putting her through hell, but she had learned to stand on her own.

And that was the only thing he could do for her. Cross didn't care about anything or anyone, but he found himself caring for her. For the offspring of his enemy and the woman that he had at one point loved in some degree.

Because deep in his heart he knew that _Allen_ could have been his, if he hadn't been such a bastard all those years ago. This fifteen year old young woman he was now sending to the Order could have very easily been his daughter…

And maybe that had been the real reason he had done everything that he had…

Cross wasn't much of a parental type, he was definitely not one to ever show his feelings to anyone, the thought alone made him want to vomit, _then _shot himself with Judgment. He left his apprentice, unconscious, in India (again, Cross _hated_ India) with instructions to head to the Black Orders Headquarters when she woke.

His lips slid into a bitter smile, and Cross found it ironic, that he would be feeling bitter over sending that brat out alone and not over everything else that had happened in his life.

Cross figured that he was a twisted and horrible father/uncle figure, but then he also figured that he had to be better then a Noah...

Damn, he needed a cold drink and some nice warm company…

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Ok, now I don't have anymore to add to this… unless anyone can think of something that they might want to see?


	5. Act Five

**Declaimer: **I don't own D. Gray - Man.

**Warning: **The Millennium Earl. Holy shit I wrote something for the _Earl_…. He is a hard bastard to write to…but I thought I'd try… OOC for the Earl… : (

**!Very important Info!:**

This is a side story for both "Secrets" and "The Joker, the Jack and the King"

**Part 5: **They all thought they were such great actors. They all thought they had him fooled. They all seemed to forget that he was much older then any of them...

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They all thought they were such great actors. They all thought they had him fooled. But the one thing that they all seemed to forget was that he was well over seven thousand years old.

There was very little any of them ever got past him.

The only thing that had ever really surprised him was Neah Walker. Everything about the Fourteenth Noah had surprised him. The First Child of Noah hated the Fourteenth for what he had done to the Clan, but at the same time Adam forgave him.

Neah had simply gone mad like any father would have if put in that corner. The Earl couldn't blame him for what he had done. It was the _humans_ fault, them and their way of thinking.

But nothing of what happened from that whole ordeal could be changed now. Adam had been so overcome with grief and anger at the time, that he had also gone a little mad. The last time the Clan had felt such a loss at one given time had been the last "Three days of Darkness".

The Heart of Innocence…

The Heart had never stopped in its hunt to purge the world of its parasites… hunting them down whenever one of Noah's Children would awaken. The Clan out numbered by the Innocence...

But Adam was getting faster at finding his family. He was building his army of Akuma, and soon he would start the hunt for the Hearts new host. Because while the Heart knew the Noah's weakness, the Earl also knew the Hearts. The Fourteenth was and would always be forgiven, the Innocence would not.

But even with those thoughts in mind didn't mean anything…

The Fourteenth had been badly injured and had fled what was left of the Clan of Noah. Adam had let him flee, knowing that he would die from the wounds that he had dealt him. Adam had taken his own injuries in his battle with the Fourteenth. And even now he was still recovering from them. His fury at the Fourteenth's betrayal had been great and if it hadn't been for the Ninth Child…

Road had appeared shortly after the Fourteenth had fled his and Adam's battle field. It was then and only then that the Earl understood. The information that the Ninth Child had told him at first only made Adam more angry, but then he had felt a deep sadness and an even deeper sense of failure.

Never before had the First ever failed one of his family so greatly.

The Clan of Noah had failed to understand that the Fourteenth was still young, and while the rest of the Noah understood that nothing came before the family, Neah had not. He had not known that the Clan would have made an exception for his child if they had only known…

The Earl no longer felt anger toward Neah, no, because he knew that the Heart was the one that should truly be blamed for the tragedy of the Fourteenth Noah.

The Heart was a sly thing after all. To place on of its pawns within a Noah's Child…

But Adam couldn't blame it all on the Heart. Neah's betrayal was one of the Earl's own personal failures. Adam and that young man had been very close friends, and he had failed to see their Fourteenth being torn apart, he had not seen until it was to late.

The Earl wouldn't let something like that happen again.

That brought him to another mater. The Fourteenth's brother, Mana Walker.

The appearance of a Fourteenth Noah is the first place had been almost a fluck. Adam didn't think it would ever happen again, but if it did, if another Fourteenth were to awaken then it would be one that shared Neah's blood…

The Akuma were his eyes and ears and it wasn't all that hard to track down Neah's older brother. That man thought he was such a great performer. He thought that he could hide Neah's child from him. But the Earl was not a fool. He had been doing this longer then any of them after all.

He had even gone to see her once, at that first orphanage that she had found herself in, before Mana had found her at that circus. Little Ellen Maria Walker looked so much like her father, but Adam knew she would grow to look more like her mother when she was older.

He was truly the best actor in this play. _He_ was the one who had all the world fooled.

He had made sure to always have an Akuma or two close to anywhere she was, just in case. But Adam wouldn't allow himself to interfere unless he needed to. He had lived for over seven thousand years, and outlived so many of his family to let himself fail again...

He would only get one more chance.

He would make sure that his family would be finally and truly whole first, and then the Clan would remake mankind…

The Earl was slightly surprised (and also very pleased) when he first realized the connection that the new host of the memories of Noah's Pleasure had to the Fourteenth's child. It was this that lead the First, and by far the oldest of the Clan, to believe that the tragedy of the first Fourteenth had been necessary in a way.

The day that Mana Walker had died had been a horrible day for the Earl, only for the fact that Neah's little daughter had to suffer such a lose. But the Earl couldn't let this pass him by, because he had his own role in this world to play after all.

And the opportunity...

Adam couldn't let the Heart know what he was up to just yet…

So he played his role.

He had issued the order for the Akuma that held Mana's soul to kill little Ellen, but Adam knew that it wouldn't happen. He would never let anything happen to Neah's Daughter…

He wouldn't let her die. Not one of his family...

She only needed to learn the horror and the pain that existed in this world, she needed to learn humanities ugliness by herself. The next Fourteenth would come back to the family once she was ready to. The Clan could be patient…

But that didn't mean he wouldn't set her on the fasted path to that end. Then, if and _when_ she awoke as the new Fourteenth, the Clan would be there waiting and ready to welcome her to the family…

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I hope that want not to bad... Review please?

And thanks tp everyone who has reviewed! : )


	6. Act Six

**Declaimer: **I don't own D. Gray - Man.

**Warning: **Character Death. : (

**!Very important Info!:**

This is a side story for both "Secrets" and "The Joker, the Jack and the King"

**Part 6: **Maria would give her family the only thing she could… Her love… her life… her tears fell and her blood covered the ground…

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Maria couldn't believe the path that her life had taken. It had only been months ago that she had been an Exorcist, one of God's Soldier's in the Churches holy battle against the Earl.

It all seemed like an eternity ago…

Her life had changed so much within these short few months, she was no longer an Exorcist. Maria had fled the Church, having no real idea on where she should run to…

It all started shortly after she had broken off her relationship with Marian Cross. Maria had known that they wouldn't work out, she had always known. The young red haired man loved the chase more then the women that he chased. Maria had known this in the beginning, but it had still hurt in the end.

The bastard would have a black eye for a week. The young woman took a small amount of pleasure with this fact, fully knowing that she could have beaten the shit out of him a lot more, but he wasn't worth it.

The blond haired woman had taken the first mission that she could, and it was this mission that would be the starting point, the starting point of everything. That one moment would eventually lead to the end of her life…

Maria was always running… Always fleeing from something.

Maria had heard of the Noah, the right hand of the Millennium Earl. She had never ran into one until that night. She had encountered a group of about five level two Akuma, the young woman had activated her Innocence and had taken control of one easily, her song directing it to attack and destroy the others.

She had sighed after the demons were destroyed, she had turned to leave and continue her search for the Innocence that was thought to be in the area…

Maria had turned and came face to face with a young man with dark brown hair, his gray eyes flashing and his mouth twisted into a wide smile. Maria had known that there was something very wrong with the young man, she just had this feeling that there was something very wrong with him.

He was quick to introduce himself to her, kissing the back of her hand like a nobleman would. "Neah Allen Walker." he had said, his voice smooth and his gray eyes curious. Maria had blinked and then had frowned. The first words past her dark pink lips had been a demand to know how long he had been there, and what was he smiling about? Didn't he see the demons that she had just destroyed?

Neah had simply chuckled, his gray eyes once again flashing. If anything his smile widened. "I was hoping to get your name, I heard you singing and I just knew that I had to get your name…" he started, his smile falling from his face when Maria frowned at him and started to walk away.

He chased her, but Maria ignored the odd man and continued on her way. That had been the first time that she had ever ran into a Noah, though she hadn't known it at the time.

Maria also hadn't thought that she would ever see him again. Though in her next mission she saw him again, Neah once again asked for her name, his smile wide and charming. Maria once again frowned at him and brushed him off, much to the confusion of the finder that had been with her at the time.

It wasn't until her sixth mission after their first meeting that Maria realized that she was being stalked. Her blue eyes narrowed at the man in an angry glare. Neah had raised his hands in a surrendering manner, his eyes widening when her lips parted and she had let him have it…

Half way through her tongue lashing he had started to smile, this only making her more furious. He had tried to be charming by telling her that she was quick beautiful when she was angry. ..

Maria had frowned very deeply, her eyes narrowing when she came to the conclusion that this man must be toying with her, it was now that she had demanded to know who he was and how he kept showing up everywhere that she was…

He had smiled wider and had said that he would tell her if she were to tell him her name. The young blond haired woman had huffed and finally conceded. Neah had smiled even wider, he had then promptly spun on his heel and made to leave…

Without keeping his end of the bargain.

But Maria was not going to just let him walk away. Her mind telling her that he must be an Akuma or some broker that worked for the Earl…

Her Innocence had already been activated, her lips twisting into an angry frown. She parted her lips and had used her Innocence to stop him in his tracks, or so she thought…

Neah had stopped like she had wanted, but then he had turned and her blue eyes widened at the sight of his smile. The young woman realizing that her Innocence had no effect on him. The young mans gray eyes flashed with something like amused anger, his voice even and oddly insulted when he had spoken. "Now that's not very nice…"

To this day Maria wasn't sure exactly why she had stormed up to him and taken fistfuls of his black coat and pressed her lips to his. Maybe it was the way that he had spoken, or his wide and arrogant smile that just seem to do nothing but piss her off…

Maria had pulled away and offered the man her own smirk before walking away. The young woman for some reason very pleased with the completely stunned and speechless look that she had left her stalker with.

It was their next meeting when Maria had learned that he was Noah. She had gone once again to collect Innocence. There had been a traveling circus close by, her fight with the Akuma that were also after the Innocence had brought them to the large performance tents…

Neah had appeared and had quickly brought the fight to an end by destroying the Akuma himself. That argument had been nothing but a few cold words and angry glares. This time he fully introduced himself as Neah Allen Walker, the Fourteenth in the Clan of Noah.

Right hand of the Earl.

And still she couldn't fathom why the next time that they met, that she had once again kissed him. Or how that second kissed turned into a whole night in the arms of her enemy.

By morning she had snuck away and had returned to the Order. Content with the fact that she would never think about the man again. She fled his bed and never planned to look back…

It was three months after that when Maria had found out that she was pregnant. Her whole world came crashing down around her.

Once again the young blond haired woman found herself running.

Because the risk of the Order finding out that she was carrying the child of their enemy was just to great, and the idea of trying to lose the unborn child was not even a thought in her mind. The young Parasitic Exorcist knew that the Order would either kill her and the unborn child or worse, let her bare the child and use it…

Maria couldn't allow herself to think about the things they would do to the child of a Noah. The experiments, the torture…

She had fled, the fear of what the Order would do to her child much worse then the thought of becoming a lost one. Though she never became a fallen…

Neah, like all the times before had somehow found her. Maria had fully expected him to leave her in that small backwoods town, to never see the man, the Noah, again. But he didn't leave her. He down right refused.

Maria's whole pregnancy had been a interesting experience. Neah and Maria didn't know anything about the other, not really. But the young woman found herself falling in love with him anyway.

And she knew that he had fallen in love with her also.

Then their child was born…

Neah's older brother, Mana Walker, helped the old midwife. Neah was a complete wreck at her side, her grip on Neah's hand hard…

The old midwife barked out orders, to Maria to push and Mana to ready the towels. Maria had been told that the old woman was a very close friend of the Walker family. That the old midwife had been the one to deliver Neah when he had been born.

Maria was sure that she was breaking bones in the Noah's hand, the old midwife telling her to push one last time. The blond woman swore, her grip on the Fourteenth Noah's hand tight as she fought to heed the old gray haired woman's old wavering voice…

The small wail that followed was the most beautiful sound that Maria had ever heard. Mana helped the midwife clean the baby before handing the small thing of to his younger brother.

It was in that moment that Maria knew that she truly loved this man standing next to her. It was then that the Exorcist knew that she would do anything to protect her small little family.

Watching the man that she should hate, that she should kill, a man that the Holy Church deemed _beyond _salvation smile _like that _at the small bundle within his arms…

She knew then that the church was wrong, that the Noah couldn't all be evil and vile, not when a _Noah _could smile like _that _at his child. Not when he then look at her, _an Exorcist_, with such love and wonder…

It was then that Maria saw the green glow coming from the blankets. Neah had smiled sadly and handed of the small little thing wrapped within to her. The blond haired woman had felt fear grow in her heart then, would this man leave her because their child had been born with Innocence?

Leave her and this beautiful little girl in her arms?

Neah had chuckled and kissed her damp forehead. It was then that the young man started to hum that melody that Maria so loved…

Maria understood when Neah had to leave. When he had to return back to the Earl's side. She had made herself understand, because she knew that it killed the young man that had stolen her heart to leave her and his small daughter, though it seemed to ease their separation for the Noah to know that his brother was with her…

Maria didn't know what she would have done without Mana. In those first few days…

She loved her small little family.

Damn the rest of the world. As long as she had this…

So when Timcanpy came fluttering back to the small little wooden cabin that her family called home in a panic, Maria had known that her world was going to be lost to her. Maria was alone, Mana and Neah gone from the small home.

It was just her and her small defenseless child.

The young Parasitic Accommodator tucked a soft white blanket around her sleeping child, laid a loving kiss tainted with tears onto her darling little daughters forehead. Her pained blue eyes took one last look upon everything that mattered to her…

Her blue eyes clouded with her tears as she turned her eyes to look at her child's left hand. The young woman leaned down and kissed the glowing green cross, the Innocence that her precious daughter had been born with…

"Your papa and uncle will be home soon my little Ellen," the young woman whispered as more tears fell. "So sleep, mama will be right back…"

Maria turned and fled the safety of that small and old wooden cabin, her heart heavy with her lie. She could hear Crows approaching and the young woman knew what she had to do.

She would run for the last time.

The Crow from the Black Order gave chase…

And even as Maria ran, her lungs burning in her chest as she felt the pressure from the Crows magic come upon her, even then Maria knew, she knew that if she was given the choice that she would never change anything that she had done…

She would love her enemy and the child that they shared. She would forever love her family…

Her last breath ghosted past her blood stained lips a few long moments later and the young woman couldn't help but smile softly, her blue eyes no longer seeing. She didn't really believe in god anymore, not like she used to, but…

"_Please, I beg you…Innocence… please keep my family safe…"_

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Please review...


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